Riverside Golf Course is an 18-hole

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

public

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

owned by the city of Portland,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, United States. It is located on the banks of the

Presumpscot River The Presumpscot River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 30, 2011 river located in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. It is the main outlet of Sebago ...

History

Built in 1932, it was expanded to an 18-hole course in 1937 through funding from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

. In 1969, the 9-hole South Course opened featuring a par 35 playing at 2,941 yards. From 1938 to 2010, Riverside hosted 42 Maine Open tournaments, the most of any course in the state. In 2007 the three-hole practice course was built for the use for junior programming. Throughout the winter the course is used for many winter activities, including cross country skiing, sledding, snowboarding, outdoor ice rink and snowshoeing. Between 2001 and 2012, the course operated at a loss that cost taxpayers almost $200,000. In 2016, the group Portland Protectors released a report that showed the course spent $25,000 a year on pesticides as part of its campaign to pass an ordinance restricting pesticide use in the city. In response, the course reduced synthetic pesticide use by 60% and installed bee hives. When the City Council passed a pesticide ordinance in 2018 requiring organic landscaping, the golf course was exempted from the requirements if it was designed through Audubon International as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. The course continues to use synthetic pesticides. The course reopened for the 2020 season with restrictions in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

Sports venues completed in 1932 Golf clubs and courses in Maine Parks in Portland, Maine Sports venues in Portland, Maine 1932 establishments in Maine {{Golfcourse-stub